The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-09-28
NEW Works. cIeARMAKEas.
The Cheapness Of Certain Brands 81
Cigars Explained.
Special Correspondence !

1l<Af> Ltptaihcos
Special Correspondence
NEw YORK. Sept. 27.-Have you ever when
gazing into the show window 81 a tobacconist
and wondering how a manufacturer could
proatably sell cigars at sl.25, $50 and ~ a
box asked yourself. who made themi Did the
ridiculous figure and the more ridiculous
weed ever seem to your fancy TO cover some
strange or morbid chapter Of industrial hfet
In that swarming district OF New York city
known as the east side are long rows OF nign
and narrow tenement houses. -Four, nve ana
six stories Of cheap edifice are bisSected by a
narrow hall and stairway from front 10 rear
and each half is in turn biSsected by a hltny
cross hall in the middle Of the building. fach
Of these four quarters is an apartment In
the smaller tenements these apartments con
tain two, in the larger four, but IN the great
majority of cases three small, Ill lighted,
poorly ventilated, low ceiled and foul smell
ing rooms. The tenants are seldom Ameri-
cans. seldom members Of our cousin races,
the Germans, Irish and English. Nearly
all come from the prolific southeast OF
Europe. and are OF more or less Slayonic orr
gin. In this mixture Of races are Pclaks,
Slovaks. Bohemians. Hungarians, Czechs,
Roumanians, black and white Russians, Wal
lachs. Bulgarians and Croats. Ia fact, the
whole %ethnography OF that part OF Europe Is
CONDENSED into a few thickly populated New
York blocks. They crowd the apartments
more like bees in a hive than human beings
in "A home. Not one set Of two rooms con-
tains less than five souls; many contain eight
or ten. The average number Of tenants 10 an
apartment Is seven; TO IA floor, thirty, and 10
a dumb bell, " As these ant heaps are termed,
40.
And these apartments are more than dwell
ing places. They are the workshops where
the cheap cigar is manufactured and these
foreigners are It's makers. The buildings are
ownel by the manufacturer. The rent SIC
t. SIG per month"; Is payable in advance, and
Is deducted by the landlord from the amount
due the tenant for his work. 1t is almost
needless 10 remark that dispossess proceed
ings are rare in the trade, though not quite
unknown, as the columns OF the daily papers
have sometimes shown. The mode OF works
simple. The tenant presents himself at the
wa.erOoms Of bis employers, receives say
fifty pounds Of tobacco, and goes back Win
his load 10 his apartment. For this he must
return ffty-One pounds Of cigar, the add
tional pound representing the increase IN
weight OF the tobacco from the abortion on
the water used in moistening IL during the
making As a matter Of fact, the increase
IS really a third Of a pound. To make
no the difference, the workman utilities every
p~article Of dust and waste. He sOaks the stems
in hot water till they are soft and then pounds
them out into fiat shreds. Taught dishonesty
I-H L.. ..L.-f.r a.. arn1taa AZ f.s Ia. asCn |
benefit and sends out his children % gather
cigar stumps and clippings, spent tea leaves
and even dead leaves from the trees IN the
street. He returns dfty-one pounds Of cigars
with perfect regularity, but Is always pro-
yided with cigars and smoking tobacco which
cost him nothing.
The tobacco Is stored in his rooms IN broken
boxes and %dilapidated milk cans 10 Is every
where else in his apartment, on the floor,
walls and ceiling. m the furniture, wearing
apparel and even in the food. An outsider
who enters Tor the first time sneezes just as II
De hal taken snuff. And those who live and
w0rh iu this atmospheric they all show the
symptoms OF gradual nicotine poisoning, hol-
low eyes set IN dark circles, a sallow brown
skin. irTifated and irritable nerves, heart dis
ease. dyspepsia and consumption.
The man, his wife and children, working
fourteen hours a day, earn from g. 20 Sl5 "A
week. Out 0f this are deducted the rent and
tle fines for poor workmanship. The pittance
that remains must clothe, feed aud pay the
other expenses Of life. 1t seldom does, and
crime, beggary and vice are called upon ID
aid in filling the family exchequer.
The children are sent out 10 beg and many
Of them % pilfer. At all hours OF the day
and evening they can be- seen carrying the
boards. boxes and relics they have picked up
0n the streets, vegetables they have purloined
from grocers and meats they have begged in
tho markets. As they grow Older their degra-
dation becomes darker and deeper. The girls,
knowing no better, enter lives Of shame. In
many instances they are sold outright by
their parents 10 men who enjoy the possession
VI "a cook, h0usekeeper and wife without any
ceremony Of marriage.
II Is hardly necessary 10 state that moral
itv. education. deceucy and religion are at an
ebb in this terrible district In some u the
-dumbbells7 they scarcely seem 10 exist
And Yet in the very heart OF this population
is an ever increasing agitation. Blind, ig-
n0rant. f~auatical and half hopeless. il takes
refuge in schemes Of anarchism, communism
and nihiism, which il would be well for
thinking men % consider.
WILLIAM L. $. FALEs.
M ~ II ~. Isa